Homecoming
by Syrus
Summary: Sequel to The Holiday Season. Miles wants to take the next step in his relationship with Phoenix by asking him to move in.


Edgeworth sighed tiredly as he sat at his desk. He looked at a rather large book that had been more trouble than he thought it would give. It was a gift for Phoenix. Edgeworth took out his cell phone and dialed Phoenix's number. He paused before hitting call, a sudden wave of nervousness passing through his body. _Miles Edgeworth get a grip on yourself! It's just a phone call._ It was useless to tell himself that, the feeling wouldn't go away. He half hoped Phoenix wouldn't pick up and he could just leave a message, although it was unlikely that would be the case.

Phoenix heard the Steel Samurai music suddenly playing so he knew his cell phone was ringing.

He fished the phone out of his pocket, and answered the call saying, "Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney."

If this call was under different circumstances, Miles knew that he would have teased Phoenix about his greeting, but this was no ordinary phone call.

"P-Phoenix? I-it's Miles." So much for sounding calm and collected. Miles was having a hard time trying to string his sentences together without sounding completely dumb.

"Miles? Hey, what's going on?" Phoenix said, happy to hear from him.

Phoenix immediately noticed that Miles sounded a little nervous, so he wondered what that was all about.

"N-Nothing. I-I just wanted to a-ask y-you something." I feel foolish.

_Okay, all I have to do is ask him over for dinner, get his reply, and hang up. Should be easy._ Miles thought, trying to give himself the confidence he needed, but his nervousness just seemed to be too strong, _Who_ _am I kidding? It's not easy like that…_

Phoenix was now a little more confused.

_Why is Miles having trouble getting his sentences out? Is something wrong?_ Phoenix thought, now getting a little concerned.

"Ummm...okay." Phoenix said, narrowing his eyebrows a little in confusion.

"D-Do you have p-plans for tonight?" Miles asked, almost feeling like hitting himself over how stupid he sounded on the phone.

_Oh now he sounds confused. He must think there's something wrong. Good job me, you have successfully failed at asking him over to your house._ Miles thought in embarassment, realizing that romance wasn't his forte.

"No, actually I don't have any plans. I'm actually right by your office, if you wanted, I could stop --" Phoenix started saying.

"No! No! Urk...I-I mean I have things to finish." Miles quickly said, cutting Phoenix off.

_That doesn't sound suspicious at all..._Miles thought sarcastically to himself after he spoke.

"H-How about we have dinner at m-my place?" Miles hoped Phoenix would just say yes and hang up, he didn't know how to explain why he didn't want Phoenix to come to his office. He glanced at the large book. He had nowhere to put that thing but on his desk.

"Umm...alright. What time did you want me to come over?" Phoenix said, now not able to help sounding slightly hurt.

Phoenix was almost certain now that something was wrong, but he figured that he'd get to talk to Miles later at his house, so he let it go for now.

Miles wanted to smack himself. He had heard the hurt in Phoenix's voice clearly. _This is the stupid book's fault._ he thought, suddenly feeling dumb blaming an inanimate object.

"H-How about six t-thirty?"

"Okay, I'll see you then." Phoenix said, hanging up the phone.

_I don't know what's bothering him, but I hope it isn't me..._Phoenix thought in slight worry, wondering if he'd done something that was troubling Miles.

Miles closed his phone sighing loudly, trying his best to beat himself up over how horribly that conversation went.

"I better start planning what to make for dinner..." He picked up his suitcase and the book and proceeded to his car.

* * *

Later, Phoenix got a cab ride over to Miles's house and he nervously walked up to his door. He decided that he'd get to the bottom of Miles's weird behavior on the phone as soon as he got in, since he was certain whatever was bothering Miles was his fault. Phoenix rang the doorbell and glanced at his watch to see that he was right on time...for once.

Pess's barks could be heard.

"Alright! Alright, Pess!" The sound of the door being unlocked was heard and was soon opened by Miles. He must have still been cooking because he was wearing that horrendous apron again and had a large spoon covered in sauce in his hand. "Oh. You're on time." There was a mix of surprise and amusement in his voice.

"What, you expected me not to be?" Phoenix said, pretending that he was offended.

Phoenix bent down to pet the excited dog at his feet, knowing how much Pess liked attention.

"Past experiences have proven you to be fashionably late, Phoenix." He moved out of the way to let Phoenix in. It seemed he didn't mind wearing the apron as long as it was only Phoenix who saw it.

"Ha ha." Phoenix said in sarcasm as he walked into Miles's home.

"So what's for dinner, Master Chef Edgeworth?" Phoenix asked playfully, poking fun at the apron.

"Spaghetti." Miles rolled his eyes just as playfully as he headed back to the kitchen. "Can you play with Pess for a bit while I finish this to keep him out of the kitchen?"

"Oh, okay." Phoenix said, looking for Pess and finding him in the living room.

Phoenix saw that Pess was carrying a ball in his mouth, so Phoenix proceeded to play catch with him in the hall behind the living room. One time he tossed the ball a little too far, and it ended up bouncing into Miles's bedroom. When Pess was taking a little too long to come out with the ball, Phoenix went in to investigate.

Miles's room was clean like the rest of his house. There were pictures with his father in it and some papers on the table. Pess was looking at a rather large book next to all the papers, the dog seeming very curious about the object. It also seemed this was the first time Pess had seen it. The dog wagged its tail, excited to find out what it exactly was. Hearing Phoenix come in, Pess bounded over to him as though asking him to tell what the large book was.

As soon as Phoenix entered the room, his eyes fell on the large book since it really stood out from all the other things in the room.

Seeing Pess approaching him, Phoenix pet him on the head and said, "So, Pess, you don't know what that book is either, do you?"

He walked up to the table the book was on and examined the book. His eyes widened when he realized that this was a really rare copy of a collection of Shakespearean stories. By this book, he saw a pair of what appeared to be house keys. On the keys was a tag that said, 'For Phoenix.'

Now Phoenix was even more shocked. He carefully picked up the keys and looked at them some more, trying to figure out exactly what the keys and book meant.

_These things...and Miles sounding funny on the phone...Could this mean that Miles...? _Phoenix thought in shock as all the pieces started coming together.

He quickly decided to get out of this room and see if Miles was ready with dinner, hardly being able to wait to hear his conclusion coming from Miles himself.

Pess followed Phoenix back out before speeding off to the kitchen. Miles was putting away the apron and setting the table with the needed items. He paused as he decided if he should take out a bottle of wine or not.

_I guess it wouldn't hurt,_ he thought as he carefully chose one and left it on the counter and went to find Phoenix.

He also needed to bring Pess outside so he wouldn't suddenly find Pess leaping onto his lap while they were eating. He didn't have to worry about Pess though as the dog came happily towards him.

"Come on Pess." He led the happy dog to the backyard. Glancing backwards to see if Phoenix had came back from wherever they were playing.

Phoenix could smell the food, and suddenly realized how hungry he was.

"Wow...the food smells really good." Phoenix said as he came into the kitchen.

Miles only smiled as he put the two dishes onto the dining table and proceeded to uncork the bottle of wine.

"Where were you two playing? I didn't hear noise from the living room and you two didn't go to the backyard since I just let Pess out there a few minutes ago." He didn't think about it much as he was cooking, but now he was curious as to where they were.

"Oh!" Phoenix said in surprise, the sudden question catching him off guard.

Then Phoenix gave him a slightly sheepish smile and said, "Just in the hall behind the living room."

Miles raised an eyebrow, but didn't press on as he poured two cups of wine.

"Are you going to stand there all night? You can sit down now you know."

"Yeah, okay." Phoenix said, quickly sitting down, glad that Miles didn't ask him any more questions.

Phoenix suddenly was nervous, wondering what Miles would be saying to him later.

Miles set the cups down before sitting down across from Phoenix. He suddenly realized he had no idea how to start the conversation.

_Well this is going wonderful, just wonderful. You invite him over and now you don't know what to do_, Miles thought, trying to think of the best way to ease into the topic.

Phoenix just smiled at Miles awkwardly, waiting for Miles to say something, the silence making him feel even more nervous.

"Umm...the wine is…nice." Phoenix said, just trying to fill the silence with something.

"Uhm...thanks," becoming more nervous from the awkwardness of the whole thing. "D-Do you like the food?" This was definitely not going how Miles had planned it.

"Yeah, it really is great. Compliments to the chef." Phoenix said in slight amusement.

Phoenix was glad he knew why Miles was acting so nervous, otherwise he had the feeling that it'd be driving him insane.

"Maybe I should quit being a prosecutor and become a chef. You make it seem like I've suddenly become a legendary cook," Miles said jokingly. He might as well enjoy his dinner first. He'd give Phoenix the items on his bedside table after.

"Oh, you're good, but I wouldn't say you're that good." Phoenix said in a teasing tone, "You'd better keep your day job."

Phoenix was glad that the mood had lightened somewhat, because the awkwardness was getting to him a little.

"Should I be offended by that comment?" Miles replied with a mock hurt voice. He felt relieved the mood had changed. He felt extremely uncomfortable a few minutes ago. "Though you're right. I wouldn't want to give up prosecuting to stand behind a stove all day." It was more enjoyable to see what Phoenix had up his sleeve in court than watching food cook.

"Hey, I'm just saying it like it is. It's up to you whether you get offended or not." Phoenix replied happily, not sounding argumentative in the slightest.

This conversation was getting foolish. "Maybe I am offended." He was glad that Phoenix was a lot happier now, remembering the hurt tone he had on the phone earlier.

"But really, Miles...you cooked this really well." Phoenix said with a small smile, deciding this silly conversation had gone far enough.

"Well it's only spaghetti." Miles smiled softly. "But really, we should hurry and finish before it gets cold."

Phoenix smiled in reply and then focused on his food. Soon his mind wandered back to the things he found in Miles's bedroom. Phoenix was still trying to convince himself of the meaning of the items.

_Is Miles really going to ask me to move in with him, or have I completely misunderstood what those things meant?_ Phoenix thought, now feeling a little unsure.

Miles continued to eat although his mind was quite far from his food. He was definitely not paying attention when he ended up forking the same spot at least five to six times before realizing it.

_I'm out of it... How was he going to ask him? I've gotten this far, I can't stop now..._Miles thought, in the attempt to give himself courage.

Phoenix noticed that Miles seemed to be pushing the food around his plate more than eating it.

"Is something wrong, Miles? You don't seem very hungry..." Phoenix asked carefully, even if he knew why Miles was acting the way he was.

Miles looked up. "Huh? No everything is fine." He surely wasn't very convincing though. He hoped Phoenix wouldn't press any further for now. He quickly went back to eating, trying to avoid the question.

Finally, after some time, they finished their food, and were sitting in the awkward silence again. Phoenix just sat, looking at Miles, waiting for him to say or do something, not knowing what to say himself.

"P-Phoenix, you like Shakespeare r-right?" Miles said suddenly and very nervously, deciding finally there would be no non awkward way to get into the subject.

Miles saw that his nervousness had come back quite fast to his dismay.

At the question, a pleasant smile came to Phoenix's face and he said, "Yeah, I do."

Miles got up. "I have something for you then." _Okay, so I successfully said a full sentence without stammering. I wonder if I can go to two._ "H-How about you wait in the living r-room?" _So much for setting a new record..._

"Alright." Phoenix said, getting up from the dining room table and walking into the living room.

Now, he sort of wished he didn't know what the gift was, because now the surprise was ruined.

_Oh well...I still appreciate the gift..._Phoenix thought to himself, preparing to act surprised.

Miles came back with the large book. He had put the keys in his pockets to present after the book. He really was sick of the book though, all the trouble he had went through to get it was a pain. But if Phoenix liked it, he guessed the trouble would be worth it.

"What's that?" Phoenix asked, hoping he didn't sound too fake.

Miles raised an eyebrow before rolling his eyes. "Okay Phoenix, out with it. You saw this in my room didn't you." Miles sat on the couch waiting for a reply.

Phoenix drooped his head in mock failure and then he said sheepishly, "Well, when Pess was running after a ball that rolled into your room, he seemed awfully interested in it, so I took a look...I'm sorry I ruined your surprise..."

Then Phoenix gave him a really appreciative and awed look, saying, "But, Miles...I love it...how did you find this? It's so rare..."

Leave it to Pess to find things that shouldn't be found. "It took me awhile to get it. A good week to be exact." It was safe to assume that Miles probably lost some sleep too. "Wait...if you saw the book...did you see the k-keys?"

Phoenix figured that there was no point in lying about that, now that he'd already admitted to seeing the book, since the keys were right by the book.

Phoenix smiled, blushed, and looked away from Miles and simply replied, "Yes..."

This was completely off from what he planned! He took the keys from his pocket.

"Y-You know what t-they're f-for right?"

"I made a guess." Phoenix said, now looking at Miles shyly, still blushing a little.

"A-And what did you guess?" _I bet he already deduced that part too..._Miles thought nervously after he spoke.

"They're house keys..." Phoenix said quietly, blushing a little bit more.

"Well? Yes or no?" Miles asked carefully, knowing that Phoenix would know what he meant by the question.

"What do you think? Of course, yes!" Phoenix said in happy excitement, impulsively wrapping Miles in a sudden tight embrace.

The keys fell to the floor as Miles found himself in a tight embrace. He didn't expect a no, but he also didn't expect Phoenix to react like this either. He slowly wrapped his arms around Phoenix. "You know you act a lot like a child sometimes, right?"

"Oh, like you don't like it." Phoenix replied playfully, leaning forward to kiss Miles.

"You got me there," he smiled softly. _It's his childish demeanor that makes him who he is after all._ Miles thought as he leaned forward to meet that kiss.

When they both pulled back from the light kiss, Phoenix smirked at Miles and said, "Well, you might be surprised...I happen to have a very unchildish idea of how I can show you my appreciation."

Phoenix raised an eyebrow at him suggestively so there would be no way Miles could misunderstand what he meant.

Miles eyes widened in surprise at how a small dinner plan came to this before he smirked back at Phoenix. _Definitely not what I had planned._ He grabbed onto Phoenix's tie and yanked him into another kiss. He was all in for this unexpected event.

Phoenix kissed back passionately, finally pulling away, looking at Miles mischievously. He reached out and pulled on Miles's hand, leading him towards the bedroom.

* * *

His alarm clock went off with the usual obnoxious buzzing. Miles hit the snooze button before curling up closer to the source of warmth next to him. He didn't want to get up just quite yet.

The alarm brought Phoenix out of sleep as well, and he found Miles curled up next to him, making him feel very warm inside and out. Phoenix let out a content sigh, putting his arms around Miles and holding him close. Phoenix didn't quite want to wake up either, this feeling much too nice to give up on too quickly.

When his alarm went off the second time he shut it off and sat up. As much as he wanted to stay in bed for once, they had work today. He nudged Phoenix to get up. "Phoenix get up." He looked at the alarm clock to see the time before nudging Phoenix again.

"Mmmmmm..." Phoenix replied, cracking an eye open to look at Miles, "Do I have to?"

"Yes you have to." He rolled his eyes. "I'm going to take a shower." Miles got up and headed for the bathroom.

"Wait." Phoenix said, suddenly jumping up from bed, coming up behind Miles quickly, and giving him a hug from behind.

"Good morning." Phoenix whispered in Miles's ear as he hugged him.

"Good morning." A smile played at his lips. _Always so childish._ Miles thought in amusement. "Couldn't wait until after my shower, Phoenix?"

"I didn't think so." Phoenix said, sounding amused, planting a few light kisses on Miles's neck.

"Stop that." He really needed to grow an immunity to being ticklish. "We really should be getting ready though, just because we're together doesn't mean we're allowed to slack off."

Phoenix laughed and said, "Alright, alright. I'll start getting ready. Oh, and by the way...last night was...amazing..."

Miles didn't say anything as he disappeared into the bathroom, but the blush that appeared on his face said it all. Before shutting the door, Miles smiled at Phoenix.

Phoenix couldn't help but return Miles's smile with a goofy grin, just feeling so happy. When Phoenix heard Miles turn on the shower, he realized that there really was no way he could get ready since he had no new clothes here for him.

_Maybe I can just borrow something from Miles for today because I don't want to make him drive me all the way to my apartment, and then to work..._Phoenix thought, opening Miles's rather large walk in closet.

As soon as Phoenix entered the closet and turned the light on, he was greeted by a wall of magenta.

_Just...magenta...?_ Phoenix almost cringed in horror of showing up at his office in one of these magenta suits, _Maybe Miles can pull the look off, but I'm definitely not taking my chances...  
_  
Phoenix continued searching in the closet for just a single stitch of clothing that wasn't in a shade of pink.

Finally, when Phoenix was about to give up, almost willing to go to work in his underwear rather than wear one of Miles's magenta suits to work, a bag at the back of the closet caught his eye.

_What's that?_ Phoenix thought curiously, approaching the bag to check it out.

As he looked at it, he realized this bag was new.

_New clothes he bought? Maybe a magenta sweater will be in here or something..._Phoenix thought to himself in amusement as he reached in the bag.

To his shock, Phoenix first pulled out a pair of black jeans.

_Jeans?!_ _Miles in jeans? Now I never would have expected that..._Phoenix thought, now very curious what other pieces of clothing he'd find in the bag.

As he looked at other clothing items in the bag, he found just a few regular looking shirts and a pair of black slacks. Not a flourish or a frill in sight.

_I've gotten so used to seeing Miles in his crazy magenta suits that I'm actually shocked to find regular clothes in his closet._ Phoenix thought, chuckling to himself.

"Phoenix?" Miles had just finished his shower and was now in a bathrobe, towel slung on his shoulders. "May I ask what you found in my closet to be so amusing?" _Isn't that the corner I left that bag of clothes... _

Phoenix still had the jeans in his hands as he turned toward Miles and said in clear amusement, "Jeans."

_So it is that bag._ "I don't see the humor of owning a pair of jeans." _Of course Phoenix would find it funny since he usually sees me in a suit. _Miles had the fleeting impression Phoenix didn't know exactly why he bought these clothes.

"No, it isn't owning a pair of jeans that is funny, it's Miles Edgeworth owning a pair of jeans that I'm finding hard to swallow." Phoenix said, hardly able to keep a straight face.

"So, why do you have them anyway? Not that I don't think you can't look good in jeans or anything." Phoenix added quickly, so Miles wouldn't think that he thought the jeans were ugly.

"Very funny, Phoenix. Just because you don't see me wearing something that's casual doesn't mean I don't own it." Miles rolled his eyes as he said this. "I'd like to make it clear that I don't wear suits everywhere I go." Miles face flushed slightly suddenly. "…And I believe you wouldn't want me to go around with you in clothes that look like my suit all the time…"

Phoenix suddenly felt very touched that Miles would actually go out of his way to buy different clothes to wear just for him.

"You bought these for going out with me?" Phoenix said, a small, surprised smile coming to his face.

"...Yes." His blush increased as he walked to a section to his closet, pulling out a blue suit much like the ones Phoenix wore. "I'm also pretty sure you wouldn't want to wear my suits either." Miles smiled softly and knowingly.

Phoenix had a look of confusion as he slowly reached out and touched the blue suit in disbelief. A shy smile slowly materialized on Phoenix's face.

"Miles...?" Phoenix said softly.

"Yes?" The other was already grabbing for a magenta suit for himself as he was still standing around in a bathrobe.

"Thanks." Phoenix said, still smiling.

Phoenix impulsively approached Miles and kissed him, finding it very difficult to get enough of him.

_If Miles wanted me to actually let him get ready, he should just stop being so attractive in that bathrobe with his damp hair..._Phoenix thought in amusement, feeling warm inside.

"You're welcome." Miles returned the kiss, finding Phoenix becoming harder to resist. He finally broke the kiss.

"As much as I love standing here all day we really should get going, Phoenix." Miles smiled but said firmly.

Phoenix brushed his lips against Miles's one last time before letting him go.

Then he gave Miles a smile, saying, "Okay, fine. But you owe me later."

He quickly took the blue suit Miles showed him and then headed for the bathroom himself.

Miles gave Phoenix a confused look as he disappeared into the bathroom, thinking, _What_ _did he mean by owing him later...?_

Miles would end up thinking about that one sentence for the rest of the day.


End file.
